Armenia: Renewed Protests Call for Resignation of PM

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the Armenian capital on Saturday to renew calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan due to the controversial peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

On Thursday, The streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan witnessed clashes between police and protesters demanding the resignation of Pashinyan.

The demonstrators blocked one of the central streets in Yerevan, while some of them sat in the middle of the road before the police intervened to disperse the gatherings and arrest many of them.

Since November 10, opposition parties have been organizing protests in Yerevan, demanding the resignation of Pashinyan, because he signed, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, a statement on a ceasefire in the Karabakh region, deploying Russian peace-keeping forces and handing over of part of the territory In the Karabakh to Azerbaijan.

On the other hand, Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan accused Pashinyan of failing to conduct the military operation in Karabakh.

Kocharyan said in an interview with Armenian Five TV channel: “At the beginning of the hostilities, it was not possible to preserve the 14 km front line in the south, so it was inevitable to establish new defensive lines, and the reason is that we tried to conduct a military operation that many doubted.”

“The operation was carried out under direct orders of the Prime Minister, and it became the biggest failure of the Armenian forces in the war, hence, Karabakh did not have units ready to establish new defensive lines.”

Kocharyan emphasized that Pashinyan had to stop the war on the fourth day, when the General Staff stressed the necessity to stop the fighting, even if it included territorial concessions.

“I am sure that the Armenian authorities have done everything to make the war inevitable. Everything was done. We can just go through the points. I will not say anything new, because I have followed the media for this one month,” he said.